


Hello, Zuko Here

by cosette141



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Book 3, Gen, Hurt Zuko (Avatar), The Gaang Learns How Zuko Got The Scar (Avatar), Zuko (Avatar)-centric, Zuko joins the gaang
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:53:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25273465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosette141/pseuds/cosette141
Summary: What if when Zuko was rejected by the Gaang in the Western Air Temple, Zuko didn't accidentally burn Toph when she found him? This is a slightly altered way of Zuko joining the group, and his struggle to both gain their trust and begin to feel he deserves it when he does. Book 3 seemed to fly through the emotions and character stuff, so here's my attempt to slow 'em down.
Comments: 49
Kudos: 659





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone!
> 
> Here's my second Avatar story! I loved Book 3 because I loved seeing Zuko with the group, but I felt like the entire 3rd Book was a bit rushed, especially on the emotional side. I also felt like it went very quickly from Zuko-the Fire Nation prince who chased, hunted, hurt and nearly killed the Gaang, to them accepting him into the group (obviously except for Katara). They didn't see any of his transformation from the person they knew to the person he became; it makes sense why they reject him at first. I feel like there should have been a couple conversations about that, to help them see him as he is now.
> 
> I also was really curious at the idea of "what if Zuko *didn't* burn Toph's feet when she came to see him?" What would they have talked about? How would that have changed things? So I guess this is just going to be a slightly altered re-telling of how Zuko joins the group, plus some more of how they all really begin to not only trust, but care about him. And vice versa. :)
> 
> I'm going to start this from his talk with them at the Western Air Temple, and it'll be pretty much the same as the show for the next chapter or so, and then it'll change just a couple things, but stay mostly in-line with canon, along with some of my own ideas to fill in between the Book 3 episodes. Suggestions of what you'd like to have seen in Book 3 would be totally awesome!
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy and I'd love to hear your thoughts! :)
> 
> ~cosette141

Zuko stopped where he was, on the far side of the Western Air Temple. The spacious structure circulated the sounds of their voices, bringing them easily to Zuko's ears. They'd landed not long ago.

He swallowed hard, feeling his heart beat faster.

They were kids.

Teenagers and kids.

 _Just like him_.

Zuko listened as they sifted between topics, trying to regroup. He could hear the desperation, frustration and somber in their words. He knew their invasion failed. Part of him hated himself— _did he need more reasons?—_ for not helping them. Not warning them.

He'd taken his sweet time deciding what the right thing to do was and they'd suffered for it.

The _world_ suffered for it.

" _Evil and good are always at war inside you, Zuko_."

Zuko shut his eyes.

He'd hoped to have Uncle with him, now.

At least with Uncle, he could figure out what to say to the people he spent a year hunting down.

At least with Uncle, they might be more inclined to trust him. Something told Zuko that Uncle's been on their side this entire time, from day one. Never too upset with a failure to capture the Avatar. Never needing too much of a reason to help them.

" _If it weren't for the Avatar and his friends, you'd have frozen to death!_ "

Zuko felt the bitter cold all over again, clawing around his chest.

Uncle had always been kind to them.

He'd been grateful to them.

He'd fought side by side with them.

And he'd stood patiently at Zuko's side, waiting for him to realize something he should have known all along.

" _..._ firebending teacher now?"

Zuko lifted his head.

The Avatar's friends—Sokka and Katara, the only names he knew—shifted the topic of their conversation.

He was looking for a firebending teacher.

 _Something else Zuko had hoped Iroh could be here to help him with_.

But he's had enough of Uncle's help; he's had barrels full of help that he never accepted. He missed his chance back in Ba Sing Se, when he made the worst decision of his life.

He couldn't fix what he broke with Uncle right now. He'd have to hope and pray and _pray_ to Agni he could earn his uncle's forgiveness.

But his relationship with Iroh wasn't the only one he broke.

He was here now.

He could fix _this_.

 _What he broke_.

"But where are we going to find you a firebending teacher?"

Zuko let out a breath.

That was his cue, right?

 _So why did it feel like his legs were frozen to the floor_?

He screwed his eyes shut, trying to remember what he rehearsed.

_So, I can teach the Avatar firebending._

_I have a lot of experience._

_I mean, you know._

_From when I was attacking you._

Zuko clenched his jaw.

_I'm good now._

_You can trust me._

And there was suddenly the waterbender's face— _Katara_. In the Catacombs. Looking at him without anger or hatred or even fear. With a sort of… _understanding_.

A _kindness_.

The beginning of a _trust_.

Zuko grabbed his hair.

 _This is so messed up_.

"Oh, and you'll love the all day echo chamber-"

"I think that'll have to wait."

Zuko lifted his head sharply, the young female voice hitting his ears at the same time a sudden fearful tension thickened the air.

 _Now or never_.

The moment they saw him it was their eyes he noticed first. Before any of them drew their weapons and fell into attack stances. Each set of eyes fixed upon him, except the little earthbender, who for whatever reason was looking off to his left. But what he saw in the others—the original three—was identical.

It was apprehension.

Then recognition.

Then the smallest bit of shock.

And then, it was fury.

But it was the fear in their eyes and their taut muscles that hit Zuko the hardest, hurting him so deeply in his chest that it hurt to breathe.

" _Do you think, in another world, we could have been friends_?"

He hurt these people.

These _kids_.

And they were terrified of him.

 _Please Agni let me know what to say_.

"Zuko!" cried the Avatar, whipping his staff into an attack stance beside the others. Time seemed to speed back up and Zuko looked hesitantly at them, trying to will his dry throat to make noise.

"Hello," he said, forcing a smile. "Zuko here."

_I thought I WASN'T going to say that—_

"I, uh," said Zuko to fill the tense silence, "I heard you guys flying around down there and thought I'd wait for you here…" But out of the corner of his eye, Zuko saw the giant flying bison walk toward him determinately, and Zuko turned. It eyed him critically, then let loose a roar that made him flinch violently, suddenly terrified that this was how he was going to die.

But a giant tongue licked him wetly from his ankle to his shoulder and Zuko let himself relax.

Slightly.

The Avatar lowered his staff a little, his glare slipping from his face in surprise.

But—even as the beast licked his face again—Zuko knew that wasn't nearly enough. He wiped off the slobber and tried— "I know you must be surprised to see me here."

But the Water Tribe boy— _Sokka_ , Zuko chastised himself—spoke before Zuko could explain himself. "Not really," he said with a glare, "since you followed us all over the _world_."

Zuko felt himself wince.

_So that was the wrong thing to say._

Zuko felt his heart beat even faster. "Right, well...um…" What else had he planned?

 _Agni it was hard to remember under their glares_.

He let out a short breath, feeling like the thread he was hanging on was getting thinner and thinner.

_Just dive in._

"Well, anyway, I've come to tell you that I've changed. And, uh… I'm… good… now."

Only suspicion deepened in the Water Tribe peasen— _people_. Kids. Warriors.

The earthbender as well.

The Avatar's glare hadn't returned since the bison licked him.

"And I think I should join your group," said Zuko quickly. Then, almost forgetting, he turned to the Avatar and said, "Oh, and I can teach firebending. To you…"

That changed all their faces, shifting them all into different levels of shock.

 _Not exactly surprising, since the last time we saw each other, I was attacking them_.

But though shocked, they didn't look angry… at least momentarily.

Zuko allowed himself the smallest bit of relief. _Something's working_.

But when the silence continued, he said, "So… I, uh…"

The earthbender reacted first, saying with surprising edge from such a small girl, "You wanna _what_ now?"

The waterbender's glare was suddenly back, and deeper than before. It was almost piercing. "You can't _possibly_ think that any of us would _trust_ you, can you?"

The venom in her voice stole his breath.

" _Maybe you don't have to live with it_."

The look in her eyes now, it was so different from that day. Then it was soft and kind and sweet. "How stupid do you think we are?"

_He deserved that._

_He deserved every part of that._

"Yeah," interjected the Water— _Sokka_. "All you've ever done is hunt us down and try to capture Aang!"

Zuko couldn't breathe.

 _Agni, they had every reason to hate him_.

Are there even words to make this right?

"I've done some good things," said Zuko through a tight chest, desperation choosing his words fast. They waited, and Zuko suddenly blanked. But the bison was still staring at him, and Zuko said, "I could have stolen your bison in Ba Sing Se—" _Don't tell them you considered that!_ "—But I set him free." Hope waned inside him like a dying firelight. "That's something!"

The bison licked his back again, and Zuko stumbled.

Still looking somewhere over his shoulder, nearly making Zuko want to turn to see what she was looking at, the earthbender said, "Appa _does_ seem to like him…"

The firelight grew brighter in his chest.

But the— _Sokka_ wasn't having it. Hope lived and died in the same half a second as he jabbed a finger toward Zuko and said, "He probably just covered himself in honey or something to get Appa to lick him. I'm not buying it."

 _No_.

 _Please_.

Desperation clung to Zuko's heart.

He dropped his head, searching for words. "I can understand why you wouldn't trust me," he said, "and I know I've made some mistakes in the past—"

"Like when you attacked our village?" shouted Sokka, fingers tightening around his weapon.

"Or when you stole my mother's necklace," said the waterb— _Katara_ , and Zuko felt his chest freeze because _dammit, he did, and he knows how hard it is to lose a mother, and still he did that purposefully and gladly_ —"and used it to track us down and capture us?"

Yes, yes, _yes, yes, YES_.

But couldn't they tell he was trying to make up for them _NOW_?

"Look," he said, voice strangled with a losing battle, "I admit I've done some awful things. I was wrong to try and capture you and I'm sorry I attacked the Water Tribe." He pressed a hand to his head, feeling dizzy. _He could not go home. He could not be back on his own. He needed to be here. They needed him—they needed someone to teach the Avatar. And he… he needed to make this right._ The apologies tumbled out one after another, so maybe that's why he didn't think his next one through: "And I'm sorry I sent that Fire Nation assassin after you."

The confusion in their eyes shifted in an instant. Jumped straight to surprise.

And back to a fury that was even _deeper_ than before.

But he didn't notice that at first as he went on, "And I'm going to try to stop him—"

"Wait," snapped Sokka, and Zuko lifted his head, seeing furious faces.

Oh, no.

_Oh, no, no, no, no—_

" _You_ sent Combustion Man after us?!" demanded Sokka.

And, again, Zuko felt his chest tighten so rigid he thought it would break. "Well, that's not his name, but—"

"Oh, _sorry_ ," said Sokka, words dripping with hateful sarcasm. "I didn't mean to insult your _friend_."

"He's not my friend!" stressed Zuko.

The earthbender jabbed a finger at Zuko but her gaze didn't follow it. "That guy locked me and Katara up in jail and tried to blow us all up!"

Zuko fought the urge to groan.

_This can't be happening._

He's lost.

There's no way they were going to forgive him.

There's—

But only one of them was still silent.

The Avatar stood still, his face frozen in an unreadable expression.

 _My last chance_.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" asked Zuko softly. When the Avatar didn't say anything at first, he tried, "You once said you thought we could be friends." _His last, last chance._ "You know I have good in me."

The Avatar held his gaze. And perhaps he caught Zuko's true meaning of the statement. That maybe the Avatar also knew that Roku was Zuko's ancestor. It was Zuko's last card to play. He was out in the open, laid out to dry.

The Avatar looked to his friends. Zuko felt his chest constrict as they glared back at him.

The Avatar looked back at Zuko, wearing the same glare as if they had given it to him in the single glance.

Zuko felt his entire body grow cold.

"There's no way we can trust you after everything you've done." A glint in his eye, something that closed off and sealed. "We'll never let you join us."

Zuko felt his jaw drop.

_He imagined this to be difficult, not impossible._

He can't…

They can't…

_He left everything for them._

_Everything._

He needed to fix this.

 _Needed to_.

Katara fixed an even more venomous glare toward him. "You need to get out of here. _Now_."

_No._

Zuko squeezed his eyes shut, desperation fueling him. "I'm trying to explain that I'm not that person anymore!" He stepped closer, and they flinched as one.

"Either you leave," said Sokka firmly, "or we attack."

_All he has left._

"If you won't accept me as a friend," he said thickly, and if he had any pride left it was gone with the words, "then maybe you'll take me as your prisoner."

He sank to his knees, lifting his hands in surrender.

Until a stream of heavy water struck him in the face, knocking him backward. He breathed half of it in and he coughed, blinking the water away from his eyes, seeing the once kind eyes in slitted anger.

_Like he and she completely swapped positions from when they first met._

"Get out of here," she growled, "and don't come back."

Zuko picked himself up.

"And if we ever see you again…" Something almost _dangerous_ passed through her eyes, chilling him to the core. "Well... We better not see you again."

Zuko stared up at the four faces from where he dripped, soaking wet, to the floor.

He once thought he would have them on a Fire Navy ship as prisoners, his key to be welcomed back home.

He once dreamed of getting lucky and finally catching them at a weak point.

He once dreamed of their pain as his glory.

He never dreamed he'd find himself here, at their mercy, begging their forgiveness.

And he never dreamed that he would want it more than his own father's.

But it was done.

And he knew it.

He picked himself off the floor in silence.

He walked away, not looking back, feeling their glares at his back.

And the firelight died.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys!
> 
> Here's chapter two! This is going to be the last chapter that's in line exactly with the show. The next chapter and on will begin to change some things :)
> 
> ~cosette141

No one moved until Zuko was gone.

They listened to his fading footsteps, and waited until the sound disappeared altogether.

Katara felt her fingers hurt, curled so tightly into fists at her sides.

 _“Maybe you don’t have to live with it_.”

Her chest was rigid with anger.

How dare he?

 _How dare he_?

He fooled her once, and he was trying to do it again?

Playing with trust hurt more than any firebender’s burn.

Katara broke the silence, voicing her thoughts aloud: “Why would he come here and try to fool us like that?”

Sokka’s eyes were as slitted as her own, glaring after the prince. “Obviously he’s trying to lead us into some sort of trap.”

Katara broke her gaze with the horizon and turned around, walking back into the temple. The others followed. 

_“I’m good now.”_

_“I’m trying to tell you that I’ve changed!”_

_“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”_

_“That’s something we have in common_.”

Katara shoved away every semblance of _curiosity_ she had. He sounded so… raw. So honest.

So unlike the relentless hunter they’ve known him as.

 _He sounded like someone she could trust_.

And that was the mistake she made the last time.

“This is just like when we were in prison together in Ba Sing Se,” muttered Katara. She picked up a bedroll and started rolling it up neatly in an attempt to give her hands something to do. _Even if they were shaking_. “He starts talking about his mother, making it seem like he’s a real human being with feelings.”

Because that’s how it felt.

She remembered that day in the Catacombs so easily.

That look in his eye--it wasn’t the contempt they used to see in them. It was…

... _Pain_.

It was so much pain.

It was so much _familiar_ pain.

It was _her_ pain.

Sokka cut into her musings. “He wants you to trust him and feel sorry for him so you’ll let your guard down. And then he strikes.”

“The thing is,” said Katara, looking at her brother, “it _worked_. I _did_ feel sorry for him. I felt like he was really confused and hurt.”

 _“My face. I see_.”

She’d never thought about it, his scar. It was just… Zuko. But the look in his eyes when she said it, was a kind of pain she’d never seen before. It was something deep and raw and horrible.

She didn’t know what happened to him, but that look in his eyes told her it caused him more than just physical pain.

It was shocking--the difference between this Zuko and the one who’d chased them for so long.

She’d even touched him.

 _She’d touched his face_.

She stood in front of the _prince of the Fire Nation_ , the person who hunted them, attacked them, captured her and tied her to a damn tree, and she’d _touched_ him with the promise to heal _his_ pain.

She couldn’t tell if she was more impressed or terrified how easily he got her to trust him.

And she’ll never forget, the moment he appeared in the Catacombs between herself and Aang and Azula, the _wonder_ if he was there to help.

And then, he attacked.

Katara felt her anger slide back into her chest and she roughly fixed another bedroll into a neat fold. “But obviously when the time came, he made his choice. And we paid the price.” The anger swelled and her eyes narrowed further. “We can’t trust him.”

“I kind of have a confession to make…”

Katara and Sokka looked over to where Aang had silently been listening to them. He looked guilty. “Remember when you two were sick and I got captured by Zhao?” He didn’t meet their eyes.

“And you made us suck on frogs?” confirmed Sokka. “How could I forget?”

“Anyway,” said Aang, “when Zhao had me chained up, it was Zuko who came and got me out. He risked his life to save me.”

“No way,” said Katara, shaking her head, dismissing it immediately. “I’m sure he only did that so he could capture you himself.”

Aang winced a little. “After we got away, he _did_ kind of try…”

The anger in Katara’s chest squeezed tighter. “See?”

“But that was a long time ago,” said Aang, seeming to realize his story didn’t help Zuko’s chances with them. “He said he’s changed. He knows he’s made mistakes. He said he was sorry.”

Sokka shook his head. “Face it, Aang, you’re just a big prize to him. He wants to go home and be Daddy’s golden boy and something about honor or whatever.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” Aang looked to the floor, and Katara felt slightly bad for shutting his attempt down.

Slightly.

“And what about all that crazy stuff about setting Appa free?” voiced Katara, the thought suddenly hitting her. She crossed her arms. “What a liar!”

“Actually, he wasn’t lying.”

The three of them looked to the other silent member of the group. Toph crossed her arms.

“Oh, _hooray_ ,” said Sokka sarcastically. “In a lifetime of evil, at least he didn’t add _animal cruelty_ to the list.”

Toph wasn’t amused. “I’m just saying that considering his messed-up family and how he was raised, he could have turned out a lot worse. He’s trying to make up for what he did wrong.”

“You’re right, Toph,” said Katara, stealing some of Sokka’s sarcasm. “Let’s go find him and give him a medal. The ‘Not As Much of a Jerk as You _Could’ve_ Been’ award!”

Toph narrowed her sightless eyes in frustration. “All I’m saying is that while he was talking to us, he was sincere. His apologies were sincere. Maybe you’re all just letting your hurt feelings keep you from thinking clearly.”

Katara felt her brows raise in offense and her emotions heat with even more intensity.

Hurt feelings?

 _Hurt feelings_?

“Easy for _you_ to say,” snapped Katara. “You weren’t there when he had us attacked by _pirates_!”

_And he grabbed me--_

_\--he tied me--_

_He scared me._

“Or when he burned down Kyoshi Island!” added Sokka heatedly.

“Or when he tried to capture me at the fire temple,” added Aang, getting heated himself, backtracking on his attempt to find the _good_ that Zuko thought Aang saw in him.

Katara’s hands fisted again and she glared at Toph, who was frustratingly calm as ever. “Why would you even try to defend him?”

“ _Because_ , Katara,” said Toph, in a tone that made Katara’s blood boil, “you’re all ignoring one crucial fact.” She stalked forward, jabbing a finger into Aang’s chest. “Aang needs a firebending teacher. We can’t think of a _single person in the world_ to do the job. Now one shows up on a silver platter and you won’t even _think_ about it?” She stomped angrily on the ground, making the floor quake beneath them.

Katara’s anger froze.

She hesitated.

Aang _did_ need a firebending teacher. 

But…

To have _Zuko_ …

The thought of having him near made her feel sick.

It seemed Aang felt the same. “I’m not having Zuko as my teacher.” he said firmly. He left Toph to stand beside Katara.

Sokka joined them. “You’re damn right you’re not, buddy.”

Katara felt relief sink into her bones like cool water.

She smiled triumphantly at Toph, an expression wasted on the blind girl, but Katara was sure she would hear it in her voice. “Well. I guess that’s settled then.”

Toph groaned in frustration. She turned away from them sharply, stalking out of the temple. “I’m beginning to wonder who’s really the blind one around here.”

Katara, Sokka and Aang watched her go, and Katara fixed determination in her gaze.

_I was._

_That day in the Catacombs._

_I was blind._

_But I can see now_.

She would never trust Zuko again in her life.

 _That’s a promise_.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Thanks so much for the kudos and bookmarks and comments!! It means so much, thank you!! :) 
> 
> Here's chapter 3. It's the first chapter where things will take a slightly different turn from canon.
> 
> Hope you guys like it! :)
> 
> ~cosette141

Leaves rustling in the bushes woke Zuko from a restless sleep. It could hardly have been called _sleep_ , however, as the words of the conversation from hours before ran over and over in his head, keeping him awake, torturing him, punishing him.

Their rejection of him mixed with Iroh's into a sort of pain well beyond any physical injury he's ever endured.

He had nowhere to go.

No one to turn to.

Uncle was gone, and his own father and sister wanted him dead. The only thing Zuko could do to make this right was now completely off the table, and he's never felt so, utterly alone in his life.

Zuko blinked the exhaustion from his eyes, and they widened a fraction when the bushes rustled again with more than just wind.

_Someone was out there._

Feeling his heart beat faster, Zuko jerked up to a sitting position. He pulled a hand back to strike if need be, and he called out, "Who's there?"

He wasn't expecting a small female voice to respond from the darkness. "It's just me."

Zuko blinked in shock, tiredness erased instantly. He watched as the Avatar's earthbender walked through the branches.

"I—" began Zuko, so stunned he had a hard time finding words. He stumbled to his feet. He swallowed hard, keeping hope at bay. "Hi," he said, awkwardly.

"Look," she said, stopping a few feet in front of him. She crossed her arms. "The others aren't your biggest fans. But I know you were telling the truth earlier. And Aang needs a firebending teacher."

Zuko felt himself begin to smile but held it back. _Someone wants him_. He started to say something, then said sheepishly, "I'm afraid I don't know your name."

"Toph."

"It's, uh, it's nice to meet you, Toph," he said, even more awkwardly. "Well, I mean, I know we've met before, sort of—" _When I was attacking you._ "—but I mean… it's nice to see you again?"

The girl snorted. "Yeah, nice to _not_ see you again, too."

Zuko blinked in puzzlement. "What?"

That lifted her eyebrow. "It was a blind joke."

Zuko's brows soared. "Wait, you're _blind_?"

She snorted again. "You couldn't see that?"

A little flustered, Zuko said, "I—I mean, I didn't…" How hadn't he noticed she was _blind_? She'd joined the Avatar's group well after his relentless pursuit of them, but he'd still _seen_ her with them. The first time he had was when he fought Azula and the Avatar in that dried up Earth Kingdom village. And the times Zuko's seen her since then, he was mostly surprised by her expertise with earth bending in spite of her _age_.

But _blind_?

The way her gaze never quite fixed on him earlier suddenly made sense. Though the way she carried herself didn't allude to her disability at all.

She was _blind_?

"Relax," said Toph with a grin. "I was going for another blind joke. You know… 'You couldn't _see_ that'?" She shook her head. "People are so sensitive."

Zuko's brows lowered back down. Slowly, finally getting his voice to work, he said, "So… you don't know what I look like?"

"That would be the definition of being blind."

Her dry wit almost made him smile.

" _For so long, when I pictured the face of the enemy, it was your face_."

" _My face. I see_."

Maybe that's why she wasn't as afraid of him as the others were.

"Why?" said Toph, cocking her head in amusement. "You scary-looking or something?"

"No," said Zuko quickly, _maybe too quickly_ , reaching a hand up absently to touch the burned flesh of his cheek. He let out a little sigh in relief, for some reason brought much comfort in talking with someone who couldn't see the scar.

Zuko sat back on the ground. "I really appreciate you coming here. But I don't think the Avatar will accept me." _Not to mention the others._

Toph walked over to a tree stump and sat down on it—making Zuko wonder if she was being honest about her blindness. It was as if she knew exactly where it was.

"He's gonna have to realize he's out of options, whether they like you or not." said Toph, and the blatant way she said that stung. Zuko shifted a little and she sighed. "I haven't known you as long as they have. You don't seem like the person they described to me."

Zuko winced, imagining that person they described to her. "I'm not," said Zuko honestly. "Well, I mean, not anymore. A lot's… changed."

A moment of silence passed between them, a surprisingly easy silence. Zuko let the wind fill it until Toph spoke.

"You know," she said, "even though I'm blind, I can still see. Just… different. I use my earthbending to help feel what's around me." Almost as if to prove it, she reached down and picked up a rock on the ground, mindlessly crushing it to sand in her hand. "I've learned that I can tell people apart by how they feel to me." Toph handed off the sand to the wind and turned her head in his direction. "I've sensed both you and your sister. You don't feel the same at all."

Zuko stared at the dirt. "We aren't."

"I've also grown up with parents who tried to make me into someone I'm not." said Toph quietly. Her words struck a chord in Zuko. He lifted his head as she said, "It's really hard to choose to be who you are when they want you to be something else."

Zuko swallowed hard. Shut his eyes. "I made the worst mistake of my life that day in Ba Sing Se. I didn't mean to betray the Avatar. I… I didn't think I was going to. I just… I had to make a choice once and for all and I just… _couldn't_."

He could remember it perfectly.

The momentary war of emotions.

Then, the comforting temptation to just give in and go home. Stop fighting this uphill battle. Stop being afraid. Stop trying to make himself into something new and just _stay the same_.

But it was only afterward he realized he'd already become something that would never be the same again.

"They're your family," said Toph. "Running away from my parents to help Aang was the hardest thing I ever had to do and I still worry I made the right choice. It's like, I know I did, but I still feel like I need their… _approval_ or something."

Zuko felt his throat run dry. "I know exactly what you mean," he whispered.

Toph smiled at him. And it warmed his heart, to see someone looking at him and truly seeing the raw _good_ inside him. "The others don't get it. They're pretty mad."

"I can't exactly blame them," said Zuko quietly. He pulled his knees in. "I did some horrible things."

"But you're trying to make up for them," she said. "Most people would just cut their losses and run. But you're _trying_. It might take a while, but don't give up. I think we can wear them down."

_We_.

Zuko allowed the smile to cross his face.

He had someone on his side.

"Thank you, Toph," said Zuko sincerely. "I don't deserve your kindness."

She grinned. "I think you do. But if you wanna be all self-loathing about it then be my guest, Princypants."

Zuko lifted an eyebrow at the sudden pet name.

"Well," said Toph, crossing her arms. "Let's put our heads together and figure out how we're gonna convince them to bring you into the group."

Zuko felt that warm feeling begin to overflow.

* * *

Zuko stared over the cliff side, eating what was left of the food he brought with him from the palace. He saved some for Toph, who was asleep a few feet away from him.

He himself had woken about an hour ago, still too restless to sleep. He and Toph had stayed up most of the night talking, trying to find a way to convince the others to let him join. They didn't get incredibly far. But regardless, it was just… _nice_ , to be able to talk to someone like her.

And maybe it was _because_ she couldn't physically see him, that she could see the _real_ him. The real him that only his uncle had been able to see.

He was stunned to realize through their talk how much the young girl understood what he was going through. Her mention of not receiving her parents' approval acted like the final crack of pressure in a dam and he let the water out. He told her… more than he's ever told another stranger. He hasn't told anyone outside his family about his family situations. It felt… oddly refreshing. And healing. It felt like getting it all outside of him was like him accepting it and promising to make this change stick.

Claiming that she didn't feel like listening to lectures, she decided she'd head back to the others in the early morning and try to _butter them up_ -her words, not his-before he tried a second attempt at gaining their forgiveness. Toph fell asleep before he did, muttering a sarcastic, "I better not wake up in a Fire Nation prison tomorrow morning," before nodding off.

Quite the contrary to her joke, he felt an odd sense of protectiveness toward her. Maybe because she was so young, maybe because she's shown him so much kindness. But she seemed like a normal boy's younger sister. Someone who joked and mocked and teased playfully, not someone who tortured and manipulated and tried to kill him on several occasions.

And more than anything, he was shocked that she willingly _chose_ to sleep in his vicinity. He knew now that she had some special ability to feel things, maybe she was a light sleeper for that reason, but to even turn her back to him? The Fire Nation prince, a _firebender_ , whom she's known for all of a night and only heard countless horror stories about what he's done? To her own _friends_ , no less?

Zuko didn't know if he was more touched by the gesture or impressed by how the very young girl had more bravery than most of the adults he knew.

But he was careful not to move too close to her anyway, wanting to protect the fresh trust she had in him. The same fresh trust _Katara_ had put in him, that he broke and shattered. He swallowed hard. Even if Toph was right and he could wear them down, it was Katara that he worried most about. And he couldn't blame her. She showed him kindness when he'd done _nothing_ to deserve it. _Nothing_.

Zuko touched the destroyed skin of his face.

" _Maybe you don't have to live with it_."

He screwed his eyes shut.

She offered to _heal him_.

Whether or not she could actually do it wasn't important-she _offered_ to help the person who chased and hunted her and used her _mother's necklace_ against her-

He felt like he was going to be sick.

Zuko put down the food, losing his appetite. He set the rest of it off to the side for Toph, to heat up when she woke.

He let out a breath, hoping beyond hope he could make this right.

He _had_ to.

"Toph!"

"Toph?"

" _Toph_!"

Zuko looked over to the sound of the voices, recognizing them instantly.

It was the Avatar and the others.

They burst through the bushes Toph walked through last night and each of them froze. They saw his camp set up, they saw Toph lying motionless on the ground, and they saw _him_.

"Toph!" cried the Water Tribe boy—Sokka. "La, are you hurt?!"

Toph groaned, clearly not a morning person, as Sokka ran for her. "What, Snoozles?" she muttered into the grass.

The Avatar and Katara glared at Zuko.

And Zuko suddenly realized they thought _Toph didn't come here herself_.

_Oh, no._

He started to get up. "It's not what you—"

But Katara and the Avatar attacked at once. A sharp slice of air knocked him backward, throwing him painfully into the trunk of a tree. And a blast of cold water struck him in the chest and froze instantly, pinning him there like a freezing vice.

Katara strode up to him, standing an inch from his face. "Doesn't feel so great to be the one pinned to a tree, now does it?"

"It's not what you think!" cried Zuko.

The Avatar stalked toward him, spinning his glider expertly- _and quite terrifyingly_ -in his hand and holding the end threateningly to Zuko's face. "Why did you take her?" he demanded.

"I didn't—!" cried Zuko.

"Aang, stop!"

Zuko felt relief flood him, seeing Toph struggling out of Sokka's arms. When he wouldn't let go, she jammed a foot in the ground, and earth slid up and over Sokka's feet, fixing him in place and he fell to his knees. "Hey!"

"Let him go!" said Toph, running to stand between Zuko and the Avatar's staff. The Avatar lowered it in surprise. "He didn't kidnap me!" said Toph exasperatedly.

"Then why have you been here all night?" demanded Katara, still glaring at Zuko.

"We were talking," said Toph simply.

"You were _what_?" hissed Katara, as if that was _worse_ than if Zuko would have actually kidnapped her.

" _Talking_ , Sugar Queen," repeated Toph. _Still keeping her back to him_.

It would never _not_ shock Zuko how much she trusted someone like him.

The ice was beginning to burn. Zuko tried not to struggle too much. "I'd never hurt you guys," he said, then winced immediately as they all widened their eyes in nearly-comical incredulity. "Again! I'd never hurt you _again_!"

Katara grabbed Toph's arm. "Toph, let's go."

But Toph jerked it free. " _No_."

"Why'd you come here by yourself?" asked the Avatar.

"Because!" said Toph. "None of you are giving Zuko a chance and I wanted to hear him out!"

Sokka was busy hacking away at the earth pinning his feet to the ground with his boomerang, freeing one foot. "We agreed that he's not joining the group, Toph!"

"No," said Toph, " _you_ agreed. I didn't!"

Zuko waited as silence descended over the group.

"Don't you realize," said Toph, "that if Princypants really wanted to, he could melt that ice? He's getting freezer burn to show you that he's not going to hurt us."

_Freezer burn_?

Sokka finally hacked the rest of the earth away from his other foot, cackling a laugh. "Ha! Freezer burn! That's funny."

Katara shot him a glare. "Sokka—"

He sobered, and his glare was back. "Right—look, Toph, it's not happening. I don't know what he told you to make you trust him—"

Katara steered her piercing glare onto Zuko. "Something about your mother, maybe?"

Zuko shut his eyes. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have—"

"He didn't say _anything_ to _make_ me trust him!" shouted Toph, slamming a foot into the ground, quaking it just the smallest bit. "I _told_ you-you don't understand what it must have been like to be the _Fire Lord's SON_!" Zuko visibly winced, and she turned her head toward him. "Tell them what you told me last night."

Zuko swallowed. "I don't think—"

"Just tell them why you started chasing Aang in the first place!"

Zuko hesitated. But he saw the Avatar, Katara and Sokka's faces twitch as one, adding a little confusion into their anger. He took a breath, wincing a bit as the ice over his chest made that hard, and said, "You all know I was banished." He took another hollow breath, shivering a little against the cold. "My father banished me from the Fire Nation and told me I could only return if I captured the Avatar."

"Yeah," said Sokka sarcastically. "We know that part!"

"Let him finish!" snapped Toph.

"Do you know _why_ I was banished?" asked Zuko, feeling his words gain a little heat of frustration.

The three of them hesitated.

He knew they didn't, and they were just realizing that for themselves.

Zuko breathed out. "When I was thirteen, I sat in on a war meeting with my father and some of his generals. One of them proposed that we sacrifice an entire army of new soldiers to use as a smokescreen to take an Earth Kingdom city. Hundreds of young, honorable soldiers would have been killed for nothing. Walked into their deaths." He shivered again, not sure if it was from the ice or the memory. "I interrupted him and spoke against it. But… I really wasn't supposed to. I'd disrespected the head of the war meeting and I was forced to duel him in an Agni Kai—a traditional Fire Nation show of honor and respect."

"You chased Aang and us around the world cause you lost a fight with an old geezer?" said Sokka. "That doesn't make any sense!"

"Let him _finish_!" snapped Toph. "Want me to fix your mouth to the ground?"

"How do we even know he's telling the truth?" said Katara with venom.

"Because _I_ can tell," said Toph firmly.

"Maybe he's just a good liar," said Katara in a voice that was soft but hit Zuko like a scream.

"He's not." said Toph firmly. "When we talked last night and Zuko was pleasantly surprised to learn that I was blind and couldn't see him—" Zuko winced. "—I asked if he was scary-looking and he said 'no'. That was a lie."

Zuko shut his eyes.

_So she's a lie detector too_?

"I know what his lies feel like. That was the only lie he told last night." She curled her hand into a fist. "Now _let him finish_!"

Reluctantly, the group fell silent again.

"It wasn't the general I had to face in the Agni Kai," said Zuko softly. "Apparently _he_ wasn't the true head of the war meeting." He lifted his gaze to the three. "My father was."

That got a reaction.

The Avatar lowered his staff a little. "Wait, you had to duel the Fire Lord?"

"At _thirteen_?" said Sokka in a high pitched voice. "What kind of _thirteen year old_ can take down the _Fire Lord_?!"

The Avatar winced a little. "Sokka, I'm twelve. Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Sorry…" said Sokka, lifting his eyes back to Zuko's. The glare was momentarily absent. "Did you win?"

Zuko found _himself_ glaring at that. "No." He turned his head away. "I told him I didn't want to fight him. I tried apologizing. He said that refusing to fight was even more dishonorable than speaking out of turn. So, I refused to fight, and he didn't." A pause, his voice darkening. "He punished me in a way he wanted me to remember for the rest of my life."

He heard the slightest intake of breath. But he didn't know from whom.

He didn't look at them.

"Your scar."

It was Katara's voice.

"Your…" said Sokka haltingly. "Your _dad_ did that?" His voice hitched up an octave. "On _purpose_?"

Zuko still didn't look at them. "He didn't let anyone heal it properly on purpose, too."

More silence.

Zuko decided to finish the story. He lifted his gaze back to them, seeing glares gone. "He banished me for my dishonor and told me I could come home if I brought him the Avatar." He looked to the Avatar, a sort of pained apology in his voice. "Joke was that my father didn't even think you were still alive. But you were the only hope I had of gaining my honor back and being welcomed back into my family."

Silence.

Katara recovered first. She shook herself a little. "That's… it's horrible what he did to you. But you had to know that what you were doing to us was wrong! You _purposefully_ hurt _innocent_ people just to regain your stupid honor?"

Zuko felt his palms heat up with sudden anger but he willed it away.

_Don't get mad._

_Don't scare them._

_Don't ruin this._

"Katara, stop!" said Toph. "I told you guys already, just _think_ for a second about what his _life_ was! Everyone around him was Fire Nation—the _worst part_ of the Fire Nation. His sister is nuts and his dad is insane—" She huffed out a breath. "I hated that my parents didn't understand that I wasn't like them. That I didn't _want_ to be like them! But I still felt like I _had_ to be! They're—they're my _parents_ , you know? You want to believe that your parents know what's best. What kid can up and believe all on their own that their parents are wrong and they're right?" She was shouting now, and it shocked Zuko how… how _much_ she was on his side. "I was lucky that my parents did that because they thought they were protecting me. Zuko's family did what they did to _hurt him_."

Katara shook herself again. Zuko watched carefully.

She doesn't _want_ to see him differently.

"But-" began Katara, but Toph cut her off.

"What if it was _your_ dad?" said Toph. "What if he told you that he'd only love you if you brought him the Avatar? You couldn't come home, you couldn't have his approval or his love without Aang." She turned her sightless gaze toward Sokka's direction. "And you! What if your dad told you that you could never be a respected warrior unless you brought him the Avatar?"

Katara's eyes narrowed, and it was the first time Zuko's seen her struggle for words. "I'd… it would be hard, but I'd know hurting innocent people is _wrong_ —!"

"I think I know what she's talking about."

Katara wheeled on Sokka. "You _what_?"

Sokka's face was sober. "All I ever wanted was for Dad to think I'd be a good warrior. And he's always been supportive of me. But if he _wasn't…_ " He looked to the ground. "I think I'd do whatever I could to _get_ his approval."

"But-" began Katara.

"We had good people in our family and our village, Katara," said Sokka softly. "We had a frame of reference on what was right and wrong. They're good people and they taught us good things. But if we had to grow up in _Zuko's_ family," He visibly paled, and Zuko didn't blame him. "I'm not sure we would have even _known_ what's right and what's wrong."

"And all of a sudden he knows what's right?" said Katara suspiciously, her glare pinning Zuko harder to the tree, and _dammit_ she didn't even need ice to do that.

But she had a point.

He tried to put himself in their shoes for a moment.

The last time they saw him, he was fighting alongside Azula.

And even when he and Iroh were fugitives, living as civilians in the Earth Kingdom, he was _still_ fighting the Avatar. Nearly every time he saw them.

They had no reason to believe him because all they've ever seen is the evil inside him. All he's ever _shown_ them was the evil.

But in Ba Sing Se, after he freed the Avatar's bison, he felt it leave him. That anger, that fury. He was enjoying working the tea shop with Iroh- and his uncle was _happy_. And Zuko was happy to _see_ him happy. For one of the first times in his life, Zuko wasn't constantly fighting an uphill battle.

And when he was thrown into that crystalized prison with Katara, he didn't _feel_ that anger he normally felt when he faced them. Katara had seen the good in him. She was the first one of the group he'd shown it to.

And then he turned around and shattered it.

Zuko lifted his head. "It's… not exactly all of a sudden," he replied quietly. "After the Fire Nation attacked the Northern Water Tribe, my father ordered that my uncle and I be brought back to the Fire Nation as prisoners. We managed to escape and… hid. Posed as civilians. Refugees. And at first, all I cared about was getting back my honor and my place in my family. But as time went on…" He closed his eyes, thinking of Lee, the young Earth Kingdom boy whose family took him in for a night. It had almost felt like a family he might have had, if he'd had a normal, loving family. "I started to see what the Fire Nation had done to so many innocent people in the other nations." He looked up to see them all listening.

Even Katara.

"I had no idea," he admitted. "My father had always said that the Fire Nation brought greatness to the world. At the time, I didn't know that it was only his own opinion. And I didn't know the expense." He shut his eyes, hearing Lee's voice in his head. As he's heard it in many nightmares since.

" _I hate you_."

Zuko opened his eyes.

"It took me… experiencing it," said Zuko, "to realize it was wrong. That everything my father and Azula and… and _I_ had done," he said with contempt, "was so... _wrong_."

The others were silent.

Katara's face was a mix of emotions.

Zuko watched them carefully.

She _really_ didn't want to think good of him.

She was starting to, though.

_But damn if she wasn't stubborn as hell_.

And Zuko couldn't blame her at all.

Even if she could understand his choices, even if she could see him differently, even if she could trust him and believe that he's changed…

She didn't like him.

She'd never like him.

"I'm not asking you to like me," said Zuko quietly, looking at Katara. She lifted her gaze at his voice, seeing his eyes on her. "You have no reason to. After everything I've done, if I were you… I'd hate me too. I've made horrible mistakes I can't take back. I wish I could, but I can't." The words hurt to get out, because _dammit_ if he could take back every stupid thing he's ever done, he _would_.

Katara took another step closer. "How can we trust you? You… you sounded just as sincere as you do right now when you and I were in Ba Sing Se." And there, in her eyes, a kind of deep pain that nearly stole his breath. "If you were so _enlightened_ ," she said with slitted eyes, "then why did you join Azula and attack us?"

_Because it was easier._

_Because it was familiar._

_Because I didn't want to be afraid anymore._

Zuko screwed his eyes shut. "I… don't know-" He opened them, desperation leaking through. And hating himself, _hating himself so damn much_. "I was confused—"

"How do we know you'd never betray us again?" demanded Katara.

"I wouldn't!" said Zuko, feeling that firelight of hope spark. "I swear to Agni, I _wouldn't_! I…" Desperation clawed for the words. "I… I _can't_! I left my father and Azula, I'm an enemy to the Fire Nation—a traitor. I can't go home!"

"You've been a traitor before," said the Avatar quietly.

Katara's eyes narrowed. "And they welcomed you back after _that_."

_No._

"I wouldn't go back!" stressed Zuko desperately.

"How do you know that?" said Katara, stalking up to him. She stopped an inch in front of Zuko's face. "What if they changed their minds again? How do you know for _sure_ that they won't tempt you? How do you _know_?"

Zuko swallowed hard, because _damn it_ , she was terrifying. "I wouldn't." he whispered.

Katara's gaze burned into his, making him afraid to blink. Her eyes searched his as if for any trace of dishonesty. Any chance of doubt. The others were silent as she did, and it suddenly occurred to Zuko that _they're waiting for her to make the decision_.

And maybe she would have, if Sokka hadn't gasped.

Zuko and Katara broke eye contact to look at the Water Tribe warrior, who was staring over the cliff side, frozen. Zuko followed his gaze, and felt his stomach drop to the bottom of the valley.

"What is it?" asked Toph, shifting her stance to look for what they saw.

But she wouldn't.

Because standing on the opposite cliff side, staring straight at them, was the man Sokka had misnamed as _Combustion Man_.


	4. Chapter 4

Katara reacted first. 

She whirled around, her face twisted in fury, and she shouted, “I can’t _believe_ you!”

“What?!” shouted Toph, uselessly turning her head around. “What’s happening?”

“ _Combustion Man_ is here!” exclaimed Sokka, anger re-entering his own features. 

“What? Where?” said Toph. She shifted her stance. “I can’t feel him!”

“He’s on the other cliff side,” said the Avatar in a low voice. Just as he did, a flash of orange sparked in the distance at the assassin’s forehead as he fired his own type of firebending that even scared Zuko, and all of them flinched, but the shot dissolved halfway across the way. He was too far.

He began to run the length of the opposing cliff side, heading toward theirs. And with a stride like his, it wouldn’t take him long. 

_Why didn’t I call him off BEFORE I came to find them?!_

Zuko inwardly groaned.

If he managed to be accepted into the group, he essentially hired an assassin to kill _himself_ along with them.

Zuko knocked his head back against the tree.

_Why am I so bad at being GOOD?!_

“You led him here, didn’t you?” accused Sokka, drawing his sword. “All this ‘I’ve changed’ nonsense just to confuse us!”

Zuko’s heart beat _hard_. “No!” he shouted desperately. “I forgot to call him off! I… I swear, I didn’t think--” He growled aloud, furious with himself. _And just when they might have been about to change their minds.._.

They never would now.

Anger, frustration, _fury_ built up inside him, directed at no one but himself. But he let it grow, and released it with fire in his palms, breaking through the ice, freeing himself. He didn’t miss them flinching as one, except for Toph, jumping into attack stances, weapons and fists directed at him. 

He didn’t care.

They won’t accept him.

They won’t.

He knew that.

There’s no way.

But he can at least fix _one_ thing that he broke.

And after that…

_Well, one thing at a time._

Zuko lifted his head, his eyes set into a determined glare. “I’m going to try to stop him,” he told them. “Get out of here.”

And without a single look back, he turned and ran.

“Let’s go,” said Sokka, followed by nods from Katara and Aang. Sokka started to run back toward the Temple, but stopped. He looked around. “Wait… where’s Toph?”

The three of them scanned the clearing.

But she, just like Zuko, was gone.

* * *

Zuko ran fast. 

His torso was just beginning to gain feeling back from the ice. 

_How could he have been so stupid_?

And why on earth did he hire an _assassin_ in the first place?

Agni, he was a horrible, terrible person.

If only Iroh could see him now.

Imagining the look on his uncle’s face hurt more than anything.

Heavy metal footsteps shook the ground from somewhere ahead of him, and Zuko ducked under another tree branch in his way. He was getting close. Combustion Man, as Sokka called him--a more fitting name than his real one--was heading toward him. The trees suddenly opened into a little clearing like the one he’d found to set up camp, and he jumped through the trees and skidded to a halt.

He waited as the footsteps pounded louder and closer and the half-metal man launched himself through the trees and into the clearing. 

“Stop!” shouted Zuko. “I don’t want you to kill the Avatar anymore!”

The man looked toward him mid-run.

And fired a blast that made Zuko dive out of the way.

Bark and leaves exploded where he’d just been standing, their ashes and falling debris raining down hotly onto his back.

Feeling his heart beat even faster, and cursing himself for hiring the one assassin who took his job _way_ too seriously, Zuko tore himself up from the ground and ran, cutting the man off and standing in his path. “I command you to _stop_!”

But the assassin kept running, throwing a fist into Zuko’s torso, shoving him roughly out of the way as easily as if Zuko were made of paper. Ribs cracked under the man’s force and Zuko flew backward into the trunk of a tree, his back slamming into it and collapsing him to the ground. He groaned, clenching his teeth as pain radiated.

And the metal man kept after where the Avatar and the others were.

With a growl, Zuko shot out a fist of fire, scorching the trees the man was about to run through. 

That made him stop.

Zuko felt himself almost sigh with relief. _Finally_. “Look,” shouted Zuko, “you can keep the money, all right? Just don’t--”

But Zuko realized a split second late that Combustion Man decided to add a new target to his list.

_Him._

The assassin breathed in, readying himself to fire another attack. But before he did, a voice called out from the trees. 

“Hey,” said the familiar female voice, and Zuko whipped his head around to see _Toph_ , standing at the edge of the clearing. “Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?”

“Toph—?!” cried Zuko breathlessly.

“Thought you could use some help,” she said with a grin, and with a flick of her wrist and stomp of her foot, she tore a slab of earth from the ground, and threw it at the metal man, _hard_. It hit him in the face, throwing him backward, skidding him across the grass like a pebble across water. “That felt _good_.”

Zuko pulled himself painfully up from the ground, watching Combustion Man struggle back to his feet. “Get back to the others!” he shouted to her. 

“And let you have all the fun?” snorted Toph.

Zuko groaned inwardly, but ran at the assassin, releasing a torrent of fire at him before the man could recover. But unfortunately, the half-metal man was absurdly talented at what he did, and he launched a blast in half a second. The man clearly didn’t have enough time to put his usual energy into this blast; it wasn’t half the size of his last attack, but it still collided with Zuko’s hard enough to ring his ears. 

Zuko covered his face as the blast buffeted smoke around the clearing, making his eyes water and it impossible to see. Holding his hands out in front of him warily, he was surprised to hear Toph’s happy laugh. A brief shake of the earth, a thud and a crash of a tree trunk breaking in half was all Zuko heard. As the smoke subsided, he saw that Toph had thrown the assassin into—or, well, _through_ —a tree.

Zuko spotted Toph on the opposite side of the clearing. They both waited, but Combustion Man was only still for a moment. He pulled himself angrily back up, picking up the _entire_ other half of the tree he crashed into, either to show how strong or how angry he was, and he threw it over the side of the cliff with an enraged yell.

“Is that all you got?” taunted Toph, stomping another foot into the ground, making the earth beneath Combustion Man lift sharply, vaulting him into the air. It should have sent a normal man flying incredibly far from them, but not one who was half made of metal. He flew up a few dozen feet above them, but Zuko could barely-- _just barely_ \--see the man’s smile. 

Zuko’s blood ran cold.

Combustion Man tilted his head toward Toph.

Closed his eyes.

Sparks flew at his forehead. 

_She can’t see_.

The man wasn’t standing on the ground.

 _She can’t see the attack coming_.

“NO!” shouted Zuko.

Combustion Man fired, the attack hurtling toward the small earthbender.

Time seemed to freeze.

Zuko felt emotion rise in his chest.

A feeling, a _sureness_ , that he hasn’t felt since before his father scarred him.

 _He_ hired this damn assassin.

 _He_ managed to gain Toph’s trust enough to lure her out here to help him.

_I will not let my mistakes hurt these people anymore._

He ran.

Zuko launched himself toward the attack, but he was still too far. The attack was still going to hit Toph, and Zuko wouldn’t be able to reach her in time to get her out of the way.

But there was something _else_ he could do.

And in that split second, he knew the cost.

But it would save Toph.

So, Zuko conjured up as much fire as he could.

_And if Iroh could see him now, using a technique the old man spent a summer teaching him at ten years old, he might even be proud._

Fire erupted from Zuko’s fingertips, growing into a blast that rivaled the assassin’s. Zuko watched as the assassin’s flames shivered-- _just barely_ \--as they sensed the presence of his own. And then, the enemy flames shifted direction, _away from Toph_ , and toward his. 

_Attracted_ to his. 

The blast bent in the air, _every so slightly_ , and was now heading in a new direction.

 _His_ direction.

Flashes of flames filled his vision, with no time to evade them.

He was going to die.

Zuko knew it.

He did.

But Toph wouldn’t.

So Zuko smiled.

And he closed his eyes.

Felt the heat so near and the sound rush like molten tides in his ears.

 _I’m good now_.

Finally, he was going to mean that.


	5. Chapter 5

Finding Toph was as easy as following the rumbling earthquakes.

Aang, Katara and Sokka had just burst into the clearing, hearing Toph's taunting voice and a _thud_ of earthbending when they heard Zuko's shout.

" _NO_!"

Aang felt the relief that had flooded him from finding Toph unhurt leave him immediately. Zuko's shout permeated the entire clearing, and the _fear_ in his voice forced terror into Aang's own chest.

His head snapped up to find what made Zuko so afraid, and he saw it.

Combustion Man, airborne from what must have been Toph's attack.

Sparks flew.

The assassin breathed in.

And looked at _Toph_.

That terror shifted instantly to horror, and from the gasps beside him, Aang wasn't the only one who saw what Combustion Man was about to do.

 _But Toph didn't_.

Aang's chest seized.

 _He's not on the ground_.

 _She can't see it_.

 _She can't_ —

But movement caught his eye and Aang watched as Zuko— _Fire Nation Prince Zuko_ — _hunter_ — _chaser_ — _enemy_ —sprinted across the clearing toward Toph.

Combustion Man fired.

And Zuko jumped.

_But he was still too far._

The blast was still heading for Toph, and Zuko was too far to reach her. It was still going to—

Fire suddenly erupted from Zuko's outstretched hand, and, half-paralyzed with awe, Aang watched as the assassin's fire blast shivered in the air as if caught by a magnet. And then, incredibly, it _followed_ Zuko's, as if Zuko was physically _pulling_ the blast away from Toph and toward—

Aang's entire body went hollow.

Zuko somehow pulled that fire blast toward _himself_.

It was going to kill him.

_And something told Aang Zuko knew that just as well as he did._

Instinct jumped in his blood and Aang ran, dropping his staff and he sucked in a breath. For nearly the first time in his life, Aang was grateful he was the Avatar.

He moved both arms sharply, two sides of his body caught in two different bending forms, as he used one arm to bend the earth, erecting a thick wall of it up between Zuko and the blast. And with his other, he sent a heavy, fast wall of air at Combustion Man, throwing the assassin backward. But the man wasn't going down without a fight, and he increased the blast, colliding it with Aang's attack, _hard_.

The moment the fire struck the air, it _exploded_.

The force of it knocked Aang backward, and hot air and smoke buffeted the entire area.

"Aang!"

Aang blearily heard Katara's and Sokka's voices through the smoke behind him, and Aang used the air to lift himself to his feet. He breathed in deep, and _blew_.

The smoke cloud dispersed in a matter of seconds, and the clearing was visible.

The entire center of the clearing was coated black with soot. And among it, the sunlight glinted off what looked like a lone, broken metal arm.

 _Thankfully_ —and if Toph hadn't been making Aang practice earthbending as much as she did, it might not have—Aang's protective structure was still standing, if not cracked and covered in soot.

"Zuko!" exclaimed Aang at the same time Katara and Sokka cried, " _Toph_!"

Aang, Sokka and Katara ran around it, and found Zuko flat on his back.

Beside him knelt Toph.

"Toph!" cried Katara with relief, seeing her all right. But though all right, she looked shaken. Aang could count the number of times he'd seen that girl anything but sly.

Toph didn't acknowledge Katara. She shook the firebender. "Zuko!"

"Is he okay?" asked Aang.

A groan from Zuko was his response to that, and Aang felt his chest ease a little with an unexpected amount of relief at finding the ex-prince alive and okay. Zuko pulled himself up from the ground to a sitting position. He stared at his hands for a moment, as if he didn't expect them to still be there. He then looked to the earth structure Aang had made. Then, he looked to Aang. His remaining brow raised in surprise, then incredulity, then another sort of surprise as if Zuko had put together the pieces of a puzzle but the picture still didn't make sense.

"That was _amazing_!" cried Sokka to Zuko, all hostility from earlier momentarily gone. "It was like you _mind-controlled_ Combustion Man's fire blast!" he exclaimed, wiggling his fingers toward his head and then miming the bending move.

Zuko didn't say anything. He still looked like he was in shock.

"What did you do?" asked Toph hesitantly to Zuko. "I…" She swallowed, and Aang was stunned to see her almost speechless. No—not speechless.

 _Scared_.

"I couldn't see anything," she said. "But I could feel the heat." Something dark settled into eyes that only saw such. "I didn't know what to do… I didn't…" Katara wrapped an arm around her. Toph barely reacted. The earthbender looked toward Zuko. "But then the heat… went away. What happened? It's like the fire… _moved_."

Zuko finally seemed to find his voice. "It's a firebending technique my uncle taught me," he said hollowly. Though it looked like the words _my uncle_ seemed to physically hurt him. But he continued, "Two flames that are close enough to each other act sort of like magnets. When they're close enough, the heat forces the air to rise above the space between them, so one flame follows the other." He swallowed, looking at Toph. "I… I saw him start to attack and I knew that you…" He didn't seem to want to voice _couldn't see it_. But he went on, "I wouldn't have been able to reach you in time so I…" He trailed off.

"You saved her life." said Aang, and Zuko lifted his gaze, meeting his eyes.

"How'd you know Aang was going to earthbend that wall to save _you_?" asked Sokka with raised brows.

Zuko lifted a pale face to Sokka. "I didn't."

A slight silence passed through them all.

Sokka's face had gone a shade paler. "But that…" He tried again. "But… if you didn't know that Aang was going to do that, then you…"

Zuko didn't say anything, and he didn't have to.

They all heard what wasn't said.

"I can't believe you did that for me," said Toph quietly.

"It's my own fault this happened at all." Zuko said, looking at Toph. " _I_ hired him. _I_ sent him after you all. If anyone had to die from a mistake I made, it should be me." When silence followed, Zuko slowly pulled himself to his feet. Facing Aang, Zuko pressed a hand to his fist in a traditional gesture of gratitude. He bowed slightly, inclining his head. "Thank you for saving my life, Avat-" He stopped himself, lifting his head a little. " _Aang_."

Aang's brows rose.

Zuko's use of his name had an effect on each of the others.

Zuko eyed them all. "I know you all hate me." Katara and Toph stood. Zuko shut his eyes, looking like he was pulling words that were hard to reach. He opened them, hiding behind nothing. "I've made so many mistakes. I just… I just want to do my part in ending this war. I don't want to hurt anyone anymore." His gaze found Toph. It lingered on her, maybe because he knew she couldn't see it.

But Aang could.

And he could see more than just the gaze.

Zuko _wanted_ this.

He _wanted_ to be good.

" _If you were so enlightened, then why did you betray us in Ba Sing Se_?"

Aang finally understood.

There was a difference between _knowing_ what you should do, and _wanting_ to do it.

If anyone could understand, it was Aang.

Once he found out he was the Avatar, Aang knew what was expected of him. He knew his responsibilities. He knew his destiny.

But no part of him _wanted_ it.

He'd even run _away_ from it, and it was the greatest mistake of his life. And all he's ever done since was try to make up for it.

_It seemed that he and Zuko were more alike than he realized._

Zuko had known for quite a while that he was meant to be good. That he _was_ good.

But it was only now that he _wanted_ to be.

It was there, in those gold eyes that Aang had only ever seen narrowed at him.

 _Maybe that's why Aang could read him so much clearer now_.

Aang lifted his head. "I think you're supposed to be my firebending teacher."

Zuko's brow shot up in surprise at the same time the rest of the group's did.

"You… _do_?" asked Zuko, and Aang was shocked, yet again, to hear the level of _hope_ in Zuko's words.

Aang nodded. "Watching you do what you did for Toph… seeing you use firebending like that…" Aang took a breath, shutting his eyes for a moment as he had to pull up the memory that he tried so hard to bury away— "When I first used firebending, I accidentally burned Katara." He looked at her, and he saw the unease in her eyes as she remembered it for herself. Aang looked back to Zuko. "I thought that fire only brought pain and destruction. And I swore to never do it again. But you just used firebending to protect Toph." He smiled. "I've never, not once, seen a firebender use fire to _save_ someone."

Zuko stared at him, the look on his face akin to someone being offered a treasure in front of their eyes, so close they could touch it.

"But," said Aang first, halting that rush of hope in Zuko's eyes, "I have to make sure the others are okay with it."

Toph smiled. "You already know my vote."

Aang watched that twitch the corners of Zuko's lips.

Aang turned his gaze to Sokka. "Sokka?" he asked.

Sokka looked at Zuko. The two boys shared a gaze. But finally, Sokka grinned, crossing his arms. He looked at Aang. "I mean, it'll be weird, but I'm all for it."

Aang then, _slowly_ , shifted his gaze to Katara, whose eyes were on the ground. Her expression unreadable.

And out of the corner of his eye, Aang could see Zuko swallow. _Hard_.

"Katara?" asked Aang hesitantly.

She didn't say anything for a moment. Silence held them all in its grip before Katara raised her head, not once looking at Zuko, and turned to Aang, saying as emotionlessly as her expression, "I'll do whatever you think is right."

It wasn't exactly an exuberant yes, but it was a yes.

Aang looked back at Zuko, who looked like he'd just had a million pounds lifted off his chest. "That settles it then. Zuko, well…" He rubbed the back of his neck, feeling that weirdness that Sokka was talking about. "Welcome to the group?"

Katara didn't look at Zuko, but he was looking at her. He didn't wear the victory like a victory. More like he traded one weight on his chest for another. "I won't let you down," he said, gently, and he may have said it for them all to hear, but it was spoken to Katara.

Katara lifted her head, looking him in the eye.

Then, she turned and walked away.

The group watched her go, and Sokka broke the tense silence. "She's probably just really hungry. You know… we skipped breakfast to save Toph from you."

Zuko winced and Aang rubbed a hand over his face.

 _Weird_.

That was definitely one way of putting it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n: Yay! Zuko's a part of the team now :) I did a lot of research on fire to come up with that firebending move Zuko used, so I hope I explained and described it well. I learned a lot of interesting things about fire along the way so, that was cool.
> 
> Also, it dawned on me after writing these chapters with Toph and Zuko's growing friendship, that changing this part of the story, where Zuko doesn't burn Toph, we were able give her that life changing field trip with Zuko she missed out on in the show. :)
> 
> Thanks so much for reading and kudos-ing and especially for the comments, they mean so much! I'll be back with chapter 6 as soon as I can! These five chapters were all that I had written prior to posting, so the upcoming chapters may take longer than my updates have been recently. hopefully not too long though!
> 
> ~cosette141


End file.
